After
by one.w1sh
Summary: Edward is gone, and Bella accidentally meets Jacob, who becomes the one she leans on and, eventually, the one she falls in love with.
1. Chapter 1

He was gone. I still couldn't wrap my head around that. He left, and there was a reason for that—he didn't care, he never did. How could I believe that someone as ordinary as me was right for him? Edward, the beautiful, charming, intelligent vampire deserved much better than me. I had just been banking on the fact that he wouldn't realize it. But he did. He left me, his family—hell, he up and left Washington. I could figure out where he was if I wanted to. His older sister, Alice, would know exactly where he was, why he left, and if he was coming back. Since he left, I hadn't talked to any of his family members. For one, I couldn't bare the shame of seeing them after they all realized I wasn't good enough for Edward. Alice and Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett, they were perfect soulmates, and I couldn't bear to be in the midst of that after just losing Edward. For two, going to the Cullen house would only remind me of all the times I spent there, laughing and talking like I was part of the family, always tucked under Edward's arm. I had only just gotten over the stage where _everything _reminded me of him. I didn't think I could handle going back to a place with so many memories attached.

The next thing I knew, my tires were squealing out of control, and an oncoming car slammed on the brakes. I must have made an unconscious decision to turn the wheel at the exact last second. As the car lurched to a stop, I rested against the steering wheel. Edward was probably not the smartest thing to think about while driving on a twisty back road late at night. But I still couldn't get him out of my mind. If he were here—well, first of all, I wouldn't be driving, and I wouldn't be wondering why he abandoned me. But if I for some reason happened to be, he would have grabbed the wheel in plenty of time to avoid the almost-crash that occurred.

All of a sudden, my car door opened and a stranger was yelling, "Are you alright!"

I looked up. He looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn't figure out where I might have seen him. Forks was a small town, sure, but he could easily have been the brother of someone in my classes, or he could have been a face in the checkout line at the store. Even with less than 5,000 people, I couldn't recognize everyone—especially because the only reason I ever took second glances at people was if they looked even remotely like Edward.

He was tall; he had to lean over to see in my truck. His skin was a deep olivey brown, and his eyes were chocolate-colored. His hair was semi-short, not flippy but not buzz-cut. He looked concerned and immensely guilty, as if he thought this was his fault.

All of this I registered between the time I looked up and he gasped. "What?" I said.

"Wow…nothing," he said, shaking his head to clear it. "Are you hurt? Is your truck damaged?" he asked quickly.

"No, is yours?"

"No, I hurt my arm a little trying to pull the emergency break…stupid piece of shit, wouldn't even budge. Excuse my language," he said. "Hey. I think I killed the engine on my truck, you don't happen to have jumper cables do you?"

"What the hell are jumper cables?" I said, accidently out loud…I meant to think it.

He laughed and walked around to the other side of the truck. Only as he slid into the passenger seat did I realize it was pouring out and he was drenched. I felt guilty for making him get out of his truck to see if I was okay when I was the one who almost caused an accident. My truck didn't exactly have high ceilings, and he had to duck his head to fit.

"D'you mind if I…" he gestured to the glove box. I was pretty sure there was nothing in there except my proof of ownership papers so I shrugged. He pulled it open, and sure enough, it was empty save the papers. He ran a hand through his dripping hair, frustrated. "I'm sorry to ask this, but could you drive me into the little town up ahead? I need to find some jumper cables."

"That's the way I'm headed anyway," I smiled, starting the engine.

"Thank you," he said, and leaned back in his seat. "I should put my seatbelt on if I want to live through your reckless driving."

"I'm really sorry; I had a lot on my mind."

"I'm joking, I'm joking," he said, laughing. "I'm Jacob, by the way."

I looked over at him, "I'm Bella."

"Yeah, I know."

"You know?" I said, surprised.

"'Ey, 'ey, eyes on the road!" he grinned. Then in a completely different tone, he said, "Yeah, of course I know. You were the talk of the town about a year ago when you came. From Phoenix, right?"

"Yeah, it rains a lot here."

"You get used to it, after living here, oh, 18 years."

"Yeah. Do you go to school at Forks High?"

"Oh, no, I go to school on the rez."

"Rez?"

"Reservation. My family lives there and my dad wouldn't let me go to school off of it."

"Oh, okay. I thought you looked familiar from somewhere, but I guess not. I've never been down to the rez."

"Yes, you have, just not recently."

"I have?" I asked, confused.

"You're…Bella Swan, right? Charlie's girl?"

I nodded.

"Yeah, you probably don't remember me, but your dad and my dad are really good friends, and we always used to hang out when we were younger. Down on the beach. I remember we'd always make mud pies, and one time you even convinced me to take a bite of one."

"_You're _Jake?" I said disbelievingly. I remembered convincing a little dark-skinned boy with big brown eyes to try a bite of a mud pie I made when I was six. He was an exact copy of the man sitting in my truck, except twelve years younger. What were the odds of running into him again?

"I said my name was Jacob, I thought you might make the connection."

"I used to call you Jake, though," I said defensively.

"Actually, I distinctly remember _Jakey,_" he snorted. "I hated it and loved it at the same time. My dad still teased me about that for years after I didn't see you anymore."

"This is weird. It feels like I've known you my whole life."

"Well, in a way, you have. We just didn't see each other for like, ten years. But hey, here we are."

I smiled. "Here we are. What's new with you?"

"Let's see…ohh, turn left here, sorry."

I barely cleared the trees on the side of the gravel road. "This goes into town?" I asked.

"No," he said, "It goes to my driveway. I remembered nothing in town is open this late, and I think my dad has some jumper cables in the garage. But anyway, not much new. Joined softball, quit. Got a girlfriend, got dumped. Started building motorcycles, which actually I'm almost finished with my second one. Umm, got a liscense. My dad's in a wheelchair now. Grew my hair out to my elbows and then cut it. Oh, me and my buddies got caught swimming after dark and had to pick up trash all over the reservation for three hours. There's a strict curfew cuz there's been a lot of attacks lately….people just go missing and never return. So we all have to be inside before ten. I'd like to get a piece of that bear that's doing it, ten o'clock is when the party is just gettin started!"

I had a sick feeling it wasn't a bear.

"So what's new with you?"

"Well, just that Cullen kid, Edward."

"Yeah, he like, vanished off the face of the earth, didn't he?"

"Not before ripping my heart in two."

"Aww, I'm really sorry," he said. "I can't see you giving your heart to someone like that, though. He's a little cold-hearted, if you know what I mean."

"You _know_?" I gasped.

He rolled his eyes. "Of course I know he's a vampire. But that's a whole other story, so I'll tell that to you later."

Without meaning to, I slammed on the breaks.

"Whoa, easy," he said, lurching forward. "Do you have a liscense?" he asked doubtfully. "Oh, but perfect timing." He opened his door. "My house is right through here."

"Should I go with you?"

"Yeah," he called casually, halfway through the forest of trees already. I couldn't tell how he could see where he was going, it was almost pitch black in here. I walked very carefully, several steps behind him.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey, how did you guys like the first chapter? No one reviewed. I'm still gonna keep writing though :) **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or any of the characters; if I did I wouldn't drive a '94 ford pickup. ~one.w1sh**

Chapter 2

All of a sudden, I could no longer hear his footsteps in front of me. My immediate reaction was to panic and wonder if I had somehow gotten lost, but then I heard his voice a short distance up ahead. "Bella?"

I breathed a sigh of relief and soon enough found myself out of the woods. A tiny bit of light crept through the broken blinds covering a window a few hundred yards away. It must have been his house. "Let's go," he said quietly, and I followed his huge outline towards the light.

As usual, it was pouring down rain, and we were drenched by the time we made it to the garage. It didn't even cross my mind that it might be dangerous to follow a man who I hardly knew into a garage; I was just glad to be out of the rain. He flipped on the light—a light bulb hanging from a string in the middle of the ceiling—and closed the door behind us.

Once my eyes were accustomed to the sudden brightness, I saw the outline of what must have been a motorcycle draped with a huge white sheet. Shelves filled with overflowing boxes of motorcycle parts lined the walls, and the shades were drawn on the only window. Jake was already digging through a box in the corner, not bothering to be quiet about it. He must not have cared if anyone heard him—or maybe there wasn't anyone to hear him. Friday nights used to find Billy and Charlie drinking beer and watching TV at my dad's house. I wondered if they still did.

I turned my attention back to the motorcycle. "Can I see?" I asked softly.

He looked over his shoulder and saw me staring at the sheet. Without saying anything, he stood up and walked towards it. He slowly pulled the sheet off it, revealing a beautiful motorcycle. It was painted black with red flames, and the way the light danced off the paint made it look like it was really on fire.

"Wow, I love the paint," I said incredulously. Not being a huge fan of cars, that was all I could safely comment on without making myself look like an idiot.

He laughed loudly. "The one thing I didn't do, that's what you like."

Embarrassed, I said quickly, "Well, I mean, I love the rest of the bike too, but that's just what caught my eye…"

"It's ok_aay_. I didn't expect you to like it at all," he chuckled.

"I do like it!" I assured him.

"Oh!" he turned and walked towards the back of the shed. "I put the cables in _here _so I'd be able to find them later. Stupid me."

We walked back to the truck in silence, but somehow, impossibly, it had gotten even darker, so I stayed right behind him through the woods. We had left the keys in the ignition when we got here, and Jacob surprised me by hopping in the driver's side.

"Oh, I can drive," I told him.

"No, no, I got it." When he turned the key, the clock on the dash read 9:53. "Shit!" he said loudly, and before my door was even all the way shut, the truck started moving.

"What?" I said, alarmed.

"Curfew is 10! Do you remember how far up this road I left my car?"

"It wasn't too far, I don't think…" But I knew it was definitely more than 7 minutes.

By the time the clock hit 10:00, we were still driving endlessly trying to find his car. He switched off the headlights and said, "If we get out of La Push, I can switch the headlights back on and drive you home, and then just keep the car until the morning."

"How far is it out of La Push?"

"I don't go off the rez very much…I don't really know." There was a long silence, during which he brought the truck to a slow halt in the middle of the road. "Maybe it would be safer if you just stayed the night at my place," he said slowly.

Shocked, I said, "Um, no offense, but I barely know you."

"You trusted me when we were little."

"We've grown up since then. Everyone's innocent at that age."

He smiled. "Look, I'm not gonna pull anything. You can sleep on the couch and I'll sleep in my room. If you really want to, we can try to fight our way into the city in the dark."

"Is Billy at my dad's place?"

"Yeah, he's always there on Fridays."

"My dad will worry if I don't come home."

"I'll call."

I stared at him. "You think our dads are just going to let us have a little sleepover?"

He laughed. "I know you've been caught up with that Cullen kid lately, but since you've been ignoring everything else, I've been at your place every Friday night, drinking beer and watching football with Billy and Charlie. He trusts me."

"He might trust you, but he trusted Edward too, and he never let me stay over at his place."

"Yeah, because he knew Edward was in love with you."

"Still…"

He shrugged and turned my truck back on. "Whatever you want."

"No, no," I said, suddenly, surprising even myself. "Go home."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Review! Please :D So this chapter, nothing lemon-y, sorry..it's leading to it :)**

**Disclaimer: All of the characters belong to Stephenie Meyer's insanely brilliant mind. **

Chapter 3

I wiped my hands on my jeans as he unlocked the front door. Why was I nervous? I shouldn't be nervous! Nothing was going to happen! He was just an insanely hot teenage boy with hormones just like any of the rest of them…and I was a vulnerable girl…no, if I didn't want something to happen, it wouldn't happen. I could stop him—not by force, but with words. And he seemed like a gentle enough guy to stop if I told him to. And hell, who says I didn't want it to happen?

"Um, are you gonna come in or not?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. I guess I had lingered on the porch, thinking.

"Sorry," I shook my head and followed him inside. He closed the door behind me and went straight to the phone, which was hanging on a wall in the hallway. I felt awkward sitting down anywhere since I'd never been there before, so I followed him and leaned against the opposite wall.

"Yeah, Charlie? It's Jake…yeah, I'm good, how are you?...listen, Bella got lost and I ran into her...no, not literally, she's fine…and it's past the 10 o'clock curfew for kids under 18…so is it all right if she stays here?...no, of course, sir, she'll sleep on the couch…okay, and my dad mentioned maybe staying there depending how late the game goes?...oh, alright. Well, goodnight sir." He hung up.

He led me back into the living room, saying, "Sit down, make yourself comfortable. Hungry?"

"No thanks," I said, and sat down in the recliner, while he headed into the kitchen. When he had made himself a ham sandwich, he plopped down on the couch and sprawled out. The sandwich was gone in three bites, and he reached for the remote. "So, you gonna crash early or wanna watch some TV?"

"Whatever," I shrugged. He sat up and looked at me. "Give me an opinion. If I wanted a 'whatever' I wouldn't have even asked."

"Let's watch TV then."

He grinned and the TV screen came to life. "What do you wanna watch? If you say whatever, I swear to God Bella…."

I laughed, shrugging. "I really don't care though."

He leaped up and started tickling me. "Stop!" I said, between laughter. He picked me up and spun me around. When he put me down, we both collapsed onto the couch. I had sat in the chair for a reason—so we wouldn't be too close for comfort—but now I felt like it would be rude to get up and move farther away from him. After we stopped laughing the silence was awkward.

"I think I'm gonna go to sleep…you want some of my pajamas to wear or are you good in jeans?" he asked, standing up.

"Maybe just a t-shirt please," I said. Girls feel beautiful in dresses and comfortable in jeans, but in a guy's t-shirt, they feel complete. I think I would've felt complete in any guy's t-shirt, not just Jacob's. I guess I was just longing for something that even remotely compared to what I felt with Edward.

What I wasn't expecting was for him to tear the t-shirt from his own back and toss it towards me. "Sweet dreams, beautiful." He turned off the light as he walked out, and his bedroom door shut softly fifteen footsteps later. I was used to counting footsteps as guys left. It helped me not cry as they went—not that I would've cried as Jacob went to sleep in his own room though.

I pulled off my jeans and shirt—his shirt fell to my knees and it smelled good, like cinnamon and apples. I tossed and turned for half an hour before I decided not to try and sleep. Something didn't feel right. Sleeping alone in a house I wasn't familiar with. I couldn't tell if I was scared or lonely or just craving Jacob's attention. But either way, I found myself standing in front of his bedroom door, and my arm raised itself to knock.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: So, theyre gonna sleep together, but not…you know. I wanted to, but I just feel like it's too early. Definitely in the next few chapters :) **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, but I sure wish I did.**

**xoxo ~one.w1sh**

Chapter 4

Almost immediately, the door was flung open and there he was, standing there illuminated in the moonlight sliding in the open window behind him. He was wearing nothing except boxers, and his stomach was very toned. Suddenly my mouth felt very dry, and I had a hard time explaining why I was standing at his bedroom door.

"I..just…I was…"

He cut me off without saying anything, instead stepping back and closing the door behind me. I walked to the bed and sat awkwardly on the side. I hadn't had much experience with this whole sleeping-with-strangers thing—scratch that, I hadn't had any experience. He lay down, completely relaxed, which made me feel stupid for thinking anything was awkward. Obviously, I meant nothing to him, and he planned to go to sleep without saying anything. Stupid me, expecting him to open not only his house, but his arms, for me to sleep in. So I lay down as far away from him as possible without falling off the bed. I made absolute sure we weren't touching at all, and I rolled over so my back was to him. Why did I have a habit of screwing things up right away? I had known the guy for like, two hours, and he already thought I was a total weirdo.

But a few minutes later, when I'm sure he thought I was asleep, he rolled over until he was pressed against my back, and slipped his arm over my waist. I smiled to myself, but didn't say anything. For some reason, I thought talking would make him jump back. So I lay very still, trying to keep my racing heart from making my breathing uneven.

"Bella? Are you awake?" he whispered, his breath tickling my ear.

"I'm up," I whispered back.

"I don't think I've ever slept with a girl this early in the relationship," he said, a hint of laughter in his voice.

"Relationship?" I asked, surprised.

"Relax, you know what I meant."

"Yeah." I let out a breath. "Yeah, I did."

"Why do you trust me?" he asked randomly.

"Should I not trust you?"

"No, I mean, we just met, and for all you know, I could be a total physco."

"You can't be more of a physco than the last guy I was with," I said without thinking.

"Who, Edward? He's a physco?"

I rolled my eyes. Did I really want to get into this?

"He's a physco?" he repeated.

I guess I didn't have a choice. "Well, the reason we…ended, was because he, um, started acting a little off. He would be gone for long periods of time. To hunt. I mean, I knew he was a vampire, but usually he'd be gone for like a day at most, and then all of a sudden he'd leave and stay gone for a whole week. I thought he was cheating. I even smelled someone else's perfume on his jacket once. But he wasn't cheating on me, he was…hunting people. He'd go way up into the mountains, and find some hiker who was alone. But I guess…human blood doesn't fill you up as fast, so he'd have to kill like, 8 people just so he wasn't starving."

"Oh, god…" he said quietly.

"Yeah, all those disappearances up in the mountains? Yeah, that was him. After I smelled the perfume, I blew up and started yelling and threatening to leave. He promised he'd stop, and I believed him. He looked me in the eye and he lied, because the next morning he was gone again. I'd been staying over his house, but that morning I packed up and I left, and I told myself I'd never talk to him again. But he came back, and he knocked on my front door. I should've slammed it. But he asked to explain, so I let him in. I told him it was either me or keeping on eating people. And do you know what he did? He stood up, he opened the door, and he left without looking back. He even left the front door open, if you can believe that. Classy, I know. I almost felt like he wanted me to follow him, but I wasn't going to. So then I became a total recluse for about a month. I'd been used to spending every spare moment of time with him, and suddenly I didn't know what to do."

"You can…stop, if you don't want to tell me more."

"Well, that's it. Today was the day I decided to stop hiding out, and I was actually going down to the city to meet some girlfriends for a beer. I thought I'd get drunk and get things off my mind. But I got lucky instead, and almost killed you."

We both laughed.

"So, now that you know my tragic love story, what's yours?"

He was quiet for a minute. Thinking, I presumed. "I'm trying to think of the best way to phrase this. Jessica Lowey. We were at a party, and I caught her kissing some other guy. Yep. Tragic."

"Well, it is," I said, grinning a little. "If she was your first love and all, that can be life-scarring."

"Oh, she wasn't my first love."

"Really?" I said, raising my eyebrows. "Who was?"

"You were."

This took a minute to register. "What, when we were like five? Does that even count?"

"Bella, we still hung out until you were like, 8, and then you moved to Phoenix, and probably forgot about me. I didn't forget about you, I still wondered what you were like, how you were doing. I tried writing a postcard, did you ever get that?"

"Um, I don't think so…"

"Must've had the wrong address. Your dad didn't like me too well back then, you know, having a crush on his little girl, and all. But I had to get the address from him…he probably gave me a fake one."

I laughed. "Well, I didn't forget about you."

"Good, I'm glad to hear that."

I rolled over then, and we stared into each other's eyes. Then his soft hand was on my cheek, and he was leaning in. He tasted sweet, yet unlike anything I had ever tasted before. It was so different from kissing Edward. Jacob radiated heat, and his mouth was warm and wet. There was no comparison at who was more satisfying to kiss, I decided. Something about warmth, just drew me in like nothing cold ever could.

And, sometime that night, we fell asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Review! :D & leave suggestions please! **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**xoxo ~one.w1sh**

Chapter 5

We woke up that morning when we heard footsteps. I quickly untangled myself from and we sat up. I smoothed out my hair, pulled his t-shirt down further on my knees, and said loudly, "Well, your keys have to be somewhere!"

He looked confused for a minute, and I shot him a look. The footsteps were coming towards the room. We stood up, and stayed on opposite sides of the bed. "Hey, found them."

The door swung open. But it wasn't Billy or Charlie—it was a huge guy who looked a lot like Jake. "Scared you guys, didn't I?" he laughed.

Jacob and I looked at each other and burst out laughing. "Yeah," I admitted.

There was a moment of awkward silence, and then Jacob cleared his throat and said, "Bella, this is Paul. Paul, Bella."

"Sup," he said, nodding at me. Then he turned to Jake. "Got any OJ?"

We followed him into the kitchen, and on the way there I distinctly heard Paul ask, "Or any BJ?" they both laughed, looking back at me to see if I'd heard. I decided to pretend I hadn't.

"Well, aren't you gonna make your lady breakfast?" Paul asked, raising his eyebrows at Jacob after he finished gulping the orange juice straight from the carton.

A little uneasily, Jacob said, "Um, want anything, Bella?"

"No, I'm okay." Then something occurred to me. "Paul, how'd you know I was over?"

"Telepathy," he said, with a completely straight face as he threw the carton in the trash.

"Telepathy?" I asked, with the 'REALLY?' tone.

"Oh, he didn't tell you? Yeah, everyone in the pack can hear eachother's thoughts."

"The pack?"

Paul opened his mouth, but Jacob cut him off, "Okay, Paul, that's enough."

He took the hint, saying, "Yeah, I should get going anyway. Nice meeting you, Bella." And he was gone.

"What the hell was that?" I asked Jacob as soon as the door slammed.

"Nothing, he's full of stories."

"Then how _did _he know?"

"He texted me last night asking if I could stay over and I said I had a friend over. Leave it to Paul to assume it's a girl."

"It was!"

Jacob laughed. "Yeah, but it's not like I just have girls sleeping over all the time! He acts like I'm some kind of slut!"

I was tempted to ask if he was, but I restrained myself. "So why was it such a touchy subject when he mentioned a pack?"

"It's not…it's just…personal."

"Okay, but hearing each other's thoughts seems like…a big thing. Don't you think I should know?"

"Not trying to be rude, but it's kind of none of your business."

He was right, of course, but it still stung. "But you can't just mention something like that and not—"

"_God, _you're persistent, aren't you? Look, it's not something I can just drop on you the first day I know you! It's a big deal."

"You know what's also a big deal? Sleeping together! But you didn't seem to mind that last night!"

"That's different—"

"No, it's not. That's also something you usually don't do on the first day of knowing someone..."

"Bella, I'll tell you later! It's just that no one is supposed to know."

"Okay, well if it's that big of a deal, then I think I need to know before we continue…whatever this is!" I threw my hands up on the word 'this' because I had no idea what was going on, if we were boyfriend-girlfriend, or what.

I grabbed my clothes and purse and walked out. I expected him to follow me, or at least say something. I didn't like being dramatic, but come on—telepathy? I knew for a fact Jacob didn't have a cell phone, so there's no way he could have texted Paul.

But he didn't follow me—I even lingered on his porch for a minute—and then I heard the shower running. And so I got in my truck and drove home.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: thanks for the reviews. Yeah, I realize Bella was being a little melodramatic…I think she always is in the books though. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or its characters. **

**xoxo ~ one.w1sh**

Chapter 6

I woke up early a few days after my fight with Jacob, mostly because I'd been sleeping most of the time away so I wouldn't have to think about how I screwed things up. But also because for once, in the middle of June—the rainiest month in Washington—there was sunlight streaming through my window. If anything was an omen to apologize to him, this was it.

I shuffled down the stairs, putting a piece of bread in the toaster. While I was waiting for it to pop up, I picked up the phone. It had become my daily routine lately to see if Jacob had called. I hadn't given him my cell number, but I was pretty sure he had my home number memorized. I checked voicemail, but there was nothing. What was I expecting? We had hung out for one night, and he probably thought nothing of the kissing and sleeping in the same bed. It was probably the norm for him, having girls over, and he had probably moved on by now. That story about how I was his first love, it was cute, but it was probably just his way of trying to get me to give into sex. I wasn't religious, but I was seriously thanking the lord I hadn't given into that.

While I was in the shower, I thought I heard someone knocking on the door. My first thought was Edward…but he wasn't coming back. Then I thought maybe my dad had locked himself out of the house..but he knew where we kept the extra key. I realized it was probably Jessica or Angela, wondering if I wanted to head up to Seattle for the day. I turned off the water, wrapped myself in a bathrobe, and went downstairs. When I opened the door, I saw the last face I expected to see—Jacob's. I was immediately embarrassed—my hair was wet, I didn't have makeup on, and I was wearing a ratty old bathrobe, and here he was, wearing a tight shirt that showed every muscle, his face and hair looking perfect as always.

"Bella!" he said, his face breaking into a grin.

"Hey," I said cautiously, wondering what he wanted. Without being invited, he stepped around me and plopped himself on the couch.

"When's your dad getting home?"

I narrowed my eyes. "Um, not until tonight. Anything I can do for you?"

"No, no, I just wanted to ask if he'd heard anything about Edward being in the vicinity."

"Edward?"

"You know, competition."

"Competition for what?" I was totally lost.

"God, Bella, don't be so clueless." Was he talking about me? "For the motorcycle races this weekend? Everyone knows he's the best in town, but if he's not _in _town…"

Oh. Motorcycle races. "He's not in town," I said shortly.

"Well, it's not like you'd be the first to know if he was," he said, stretching out.

"And why would my dad be?"

"With all the recent attacks? You know, the reason for the 10 o'clock curfew on the rez? I know the secret, and even though he doesn't, he's got to be a little suspicious."

"It's not Edward!"

"You don't know that, Bella. If he'd do it in the mountains, why not here?"

"Because he knows people here!"

"That wasn't gonna stop him before. It would've been a lot more convenient for him to hunt around here, but remember you were the one who made him promise to go far away?"

"It doesn't matter. If it was Edward, he would've tried to fix things with me."

"Maybe he's moved on," he said simply. Then a different look crossed his face. "That's not the reason I'm here. I wanted to talk to you."

"About?"

"Come on, don't act like we're strangers. If memory serves me correctly, a few days ago, you kinda liked me."

"Maybe I've moved on," I said in the same tone as he had.

"No, I don't think you have. Is that a sunburn on your face, or are you blushing?"

"I…it's…" I sputtered.

"Go get dressed, and then I want to talk to you."

I stomped up the stairs. Who did he think he was? Come into my house without being invited, tell me the guy I used to be in love with didn't care about me, and then tell me what to do? Jesus, he had nerve.

I decided I'd make him wait a little. If he really wanted to talk to me, he'd wait. So I dried my hair and did my makeup, too. When I went back downstairs, he had fallen asleep. I cleared my throat, sitting on the chair opposite the couch. He started awake.

"Well, you look very pretty. I was thinking we'd stay here and talk so you didn't have to get all the way ready. But since you are, can I take you to lunch?"

"Sure…" I said, raising one eyebrow. What was with him?

The drive there was completely silent. I tried turning on the radio, but of course it didn't work. He pulled into the McDonald's parking lot. Was he serious?

"Like big macs?" he asked, turning the car off.

"Classy."

He laughed. "Chill, I was kidding. You can get chicken nuggets if you want."

When we were seated in a booth in the back of a restaurant, a box 10 mcnuggets in the middle of the table, he leaned forward and said, "So there's something I wanna talk about."

**A/N: So there is this chapter, and one more, and then…. ;) haha. Please review and leave suggestions!:D **


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